Reverse beeping...What's the point?

It doesn't make much sense, does it?

If your dealer's service department is amenable you can have them set it to beep only once when you shift into "R", which is a nice confirmation that you are indeed going to go backward instead of forward. It's one of the dealer-settable customizable features listed in the back of the owner's manual (pp 587-592).

 

I thought it was to remind some dumb *** that they had selected reverse so when they have an accident they can't sue Toyota.

Had mine switched off as a condition of the sale!

 

So some fool doesn't get into an accident and files a class action lawsuit claiming Toyota should've put in some kind of an indicator.

 

Prius does not have a reverse gear, the electric motor just spin backward.

In a ICE only car, you need a gear to reverse because ICE can only spin one way. When you shift from forward (D) to reverse (R), you will feel the shift shock confirming the change.

In a Prius, when you select R, you won't feel a thing. The only way to confirm a successful direction is thru audio. Do you rather have Prius shake the car instead? That would make it unrefined.

For 2010, dealer can make it beep and stop rather than a continous annoyance.

 

Well...........I was going to turn mine off early on. I was in a grocery parking lot, thought I was in drive , the sound stopped me from hitting the car behind. I'll listen to the beep rather than hit the gas and hit something in the wrong direction.

 

It will still beep once. You can't turn it off entirely.

 

I second the motion as to "what is the point?".

No other car I have owned with an internal combustion engine beeps when I shift into reverse. All cars I have owned have an indicator as to what gear I am presently in...including my old 2005 Prius and my new 2010 Prius.

Personally, I think it is stupid and annoying.

I had the beep...beep...beep...beep disabled at my dealer. They did it at no charge during my 5,000 mile service appointment.

Now it only beeps once...which is more than enough for me.

 

Stupid? Maybe... annoying, yes, to some.

With the other ICE cars, if they were automatics, you'd feel a jolt when shifting to reverse and/or drive. You'd also hear accompanying engine RPM changes.

As you've probably discovered, you won't feel such jolts on the Prius nor accompanying RPM changes.

I haven't bothered trying to disable the beep on my 2nd gen after almost 4 years and 45K miles. I think I'm leaving it as is.

 

The shifter on the Prius is different from that of many cars; you must push the shifter to the left and forward to get from park to reverse. That's in contrast to most cars where reverse requires a simple pull backwards. So it may not be obvious to the new driver when he or she is in reverse. When the car was new, I was grateful for the reverse beep. But it is annoying, I agree.

 

Am I the only one who likes the reverse beeps? I'd rather have the navlady say "you're driving in reverse...you're driving in reverse...you're driving in reverse...you're driving in reverse...you're driving in reverse..."

 

I don't mind the reverse beep. My wife hates hit and my son just sings along with it going beep, beep, beep.

I feel like they should have the drive and reverse swapped 180 degrees. Pushing forward to go into reverse and pulling back to go into drive is to put it nicely - counter-intuitive.

 

Agree about the shifter direction!

 

As has been pointed out in other threads, many non-hybrids with automatic transmission and a shifter on the console are organized as PRNDL (park, reverse, neutral, drive, low) from front to back, the same as the Prius. It may be counter-intuitive, but it is consistent.

I drove a 2004 Prius for five years and got used to the reverse beep. Now that I have a 2010 Prius, the beep just seems normal to me. I actually like being reminded that I am in reverse.

 

all,

Just a comment here that to me the positions for forward & reverse on the Prius shifter seem totally normal because over the many years that I have owned cars with manual gear boxes reverse was always to the left then forward & 1st gear was always to the left then pull backwards. I do think I remember one gearbox though that had 4 gate positions on the top of the shift pattern & only 2 gate positions at the bottom of the shift pattern. On that one I think reverse was over to the right then forward & 1st gear was to the left then forward.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Please name the last car you owned with an automatic floor shift where drive was in front of reverse?

 

Your sense of humor is great !

 

Count me as another voice finding it to be totally normal.

I can't remember far enough back to recall how this pattern felt when first learning to drive dad's tractors and cars. Several of them had 3-speed sticks with this pattern, and more. This was significantly before reaching legal driving age, so my driving and shifting reflexes were not yet ingrained with old habits to be unlearned.

But many decades later, it seems intuitive.

 

unneeded